ON THE FUTURE OF SPECIES

A look into a future in which AI helps design new life.

Many doomsday science-fiction scenarios spring to mind in reading this fact-based plunge into history and advances on the horizon. Woolfson is a cofounder of Genyro, a biotechnology company, and his measured tone blends possibilities that range from scary to intriguing, alongside anecdotes about the modern-day scientists who are propelling this unprecedented era. It’s no longer a matter of if, but when, and importantly, whether we should redesign and rewrite life. Soon, he argues, artificial intelligence “promises to reveal the rules of the generative grammar of life.” That would mean Darwinian evolution is no longer king. Humans could program life and create artificial species that live on Earth alongside us. The possibilities of this “artificial biological intelligence,” or ABI, include designing new species from scratch, eradicating disease, and creating novel food sources that are desperately needed due to climate change. The downsides are steep, too. Some of the most compelling reading comes near the end, in a detailed manifesto on the ethical quandaries of this era and what must be off limits. These include a global moratorium on creating parentless humans, and an insistence on preventing any synthetic species from upsetting ecosystems or killing off existing species. One of the greatest challenges ahead may be determining collectively, as a species, “the extent to which we are prepared to modify our nature.” Writing in a conversational style, the author largely achieves his goal of outlining for lay readers the background needed to engage with these issues and form their own opinions. Much like our ancestors in Africa, Woolfson says, humankind is embarking on a new migration, this time into the realms of engineered life. We all need to be prepared.

A lucid, thoughtful, at times troubling review of a new era in biology.